the president is in hawaii. everyone is home. with all the sides saying that they expect to go over the cliff, it looks pretty likely that that might just happen. >> well, i certainly think that concern is growing. that that's a real possibility at this point. at the same time, thomas, i think there's still so much pressure on all sides so get something done because as he heard joe lieberman said, the consequences would be huge. the economy could potentially slip back into recession. the white house has described this as a working vacation for president obama, but the reality is that negotiations are largely deadlocked on all sides. there have been a few talks going on at the staff level, but the real bulk of this work is going to get done when lawmakers return to washington later this week after the christmas holiday and resume manageses. that's when we're going to see the focus really shift away from the house and on to the senate. of course, speaker boehner tried to get his plan b, alternative bill through the house. republica